Floor Statements

Mr. President, I call to the Senate's attention that on June 20, 147 years ago, a 35th State was added to our great Nation: West Virginia, whose birthday is a time for us to remember proudly our state's rich history, culture and unique qualities.

Nearly 150 years ago, West Virginia became the only State to have seceded from a Confederate entity to join the Union. Each year after, West Virginia has continued to develop its own identity and contribute to our Nation's fabric. Our State's history, past and present, is rich with development and progress that fills West Virginians with pride every day.

West Virginia's mountainous terrain, countless river valleys, and rich natural resources have driven our State's history and economy, and draw visitors from across the globe. Our State possesses timeless landmarks and attractions, and has an abundance of natural beauty to share.

President John F. Kennedy once said, ``The Sun does not always shine in West Virginia, but the people always do.'' This statement is a true testament not only to the kind and hospitable nature of our citizens, but also to our fortitude, determination and abiding faith.

Though a ``stranger to blue water,'' West Virginia has been no stranger to turmoil throughout its history. We have been and will continue to be undaunted in overcoming the challenges of yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

This year we stood together to face the tragic explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine that claimed the lives of 29 miners and left a community and our whole state in mourning, calling again on the steadfast spirit of our people. The devastating effects of the explosion left mining families holding their breath for news of loved ones. Rescue teams and the State's Red Cross and Salvation Army expeditiously rose to the challenge to offer much needed support. True to custom, West Virginians across the State were ready and remain eager to lend a helping hand to their neighbors affected by the disaster.

And this year, like so many others before, we have called on the West Virginia National Guard to serve the State when we need them most, and to perform invaluable duties outside our borders--providing security on a global scale. Our West Virginia National Guard has garnered top rankings for readiness for many years, showcasing the motivation and commitment behind each one of our men and women serving our country.

West Virginia possesses the unique ability to make the traditions we have historically treasured as much a part of our bright future as our accomplished past. Our State continues to retain its culture as an integral part of our identity. Festivals and events, like Bridge Day at the New River Gorge Bridge in Fayetteville and the Vandalia Gathering in Charleston, bring older and younger generations together to enjoy State treasures and traditions. Blues festivals can be found across our State, and from Martinsburg to Mullens you can find world-class artisans and craftsmen in the fields of glass blowing, classic woodwork, and folk art.

Thanks to West Virginia's dedication to education, our academic institutions consistently bring new discoveries to the fields of science and technology. And, our athletic programs continue to rank among the best in the country. West Virginia University's men's basketball team reached the Final Four in this year's NCAA Basketball Tournament representing the state on a national stage. And, football fans across our state eagerly await an upcoming football season that promises to be successful for all of our programs in West Virginia.

There is so much to honor, celebrate, and be thankful for on West Virginia's 147th birthday. Our past, present, and future are as colorful as our Appalachian hills in autumn. Our people know and live well by our motto-- Montani Semper Liberi--``Mountaineers are always free,'' and our strong work ethic, one of God and family, and indubitable spirit makes our country and our State great. With these words ever present, and on behalf of myself and my fellow West Virginians, I proudly wish the happiest of birthdays to my home State, West Virginia.

Mr. President, for the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation I report favorably the following nomination list which was printed in the Record on the date indicated, and ask unanimous consent, to save the expense of reprinting on the Executive Calendar that this nomination lie at the Secretary's desk for the information of Senators.

I thank the Presiding Officer.

I rise today to lend my support to the Murkowski Resolution of Disapproval for one simple but enormously important reason: because I believe we must send this strong and urgent message that the fate of our economy, our manufacturing industries, and our workers, including our coal workers, should never be placed solely in the hands of the federal Environmental Protection Agency. I have long maintained this in Congress. I have been around here for a while. I was a Governor for 8 years. I think the elected people, and not the unelected EPA, have a constitutional responsibility here and on an issue which is so totally important. We are accountable to those people.

Some here seem to talk about other aspects of this. I tend to focus, as a VISTA volunteer who went to West Virginia and lived among coal miners, on people and all the problems, including the problem of climate change, that attend to their future.

I am not here to deny or bicker fruitlessly about the science, as some would suggest. In fact, I would suggest that I think the science is correct. However, it doesn't one iota deter from my support of the Murkowski resolution.

I care deeply about this Earth and resent anybody who suggests otherwise about either me or the people of my State. I care about the fundamental human commitment--the higher calling we all have--to be a steward.

Greenhouse gas emissions are not healthy for the Earth or her people, and we must take significant action to reduce them. We must develop and deploy clean energy, period. I accept all of that. But EPA regulation is not the answer. EPA has little or no authority to address economic needs. They say they do, but they don't. They have no ability to incentivize and deploy new technologies. They have no obligation to protect the hard-working people I represent with deep and abiding passion--people who changed my life. I was born anew in the coalfields of West Virginia at the age of 26. So I fight for my people. I understand I am a Senator, but I am a Senator from West Virginia, and I have a right to fight for them, and I do, and I support Senator Murkowski's amendment because of that. Their jobs matter. Their people, their work matters. Their lives matter. Any regulatory solution that creates more problems than it fixes and causes more harm than good in the real lives of real people, if they are affected badly, is no solution at all. I won't accept it. It is not something I will be a part of.

We are capable of tackling this great challenge in a way that supports rather than undermines our economy and our future. But the process has to work. It has to be open. It has to be not the property of a couple of people, but it has to be something the Congress comes to understand. I have always felt that if you went to more than 10 percent of the Congress, House and Senate, and asked them to explain what cap and trade means, they would have no idea. That was one of our problems with the health bill. It is fairly important that people understand what it means on this bill--not on this bill but the bill that is being talked about.

I am willing to work with people on a solution, but it has to be legislative because on this, above all, the Congress must decide. I don't care about the Supreme Court. I don't care about EPA in the sense of them being the final voice on the future of my people in the State that has some of the most carbon of any in the country. I know people laugh at coal. We don't. You can't run this country without coal. I am for all alternative fuels, even nuclear, to my surprise. I am for all of them. But when you add them all up, nobody can make the point that you can do any of this without coal. Does it have to be cleaner? Absolutely. Is there any excuse for not making it cleaner? No, there is not. But you can take 90 to 95 percent of the carbon out of it. That is a solution for our people, and we mine coal. We mine coal and send it to the States of people who are drawing up this bill. I just wish they knew us a little better.

I asked Administrator Jackson to clarify the EPA timetable as well as the impact of EPA regulations on industrial facilities. She responded quickly to my letter. She was nice about it. She showed some willingness to set a timetable, moved it up about a year, and I appreciate that. But she also made clear that the EPA's regulations will go forward regardless of whether Congress has acted on a comprehensive energy policy and regardless of whether Congress has given the EPA a direction in law about how and when and upon whom those regulations should be imposed.

So I introduced my own legislation to suspend EPA action for 2 years. It is a little different from the Murkowski legislation, but it makes the same point. The EPA can't decide. We have to. Some can ridicule that. I don't. I am elected to protect my people and my country, but first comes my people and especially on this issue.

I support legislation to prevent any future catastrophe like the oil spill, which is, to my mind, a totally separate issue and has no business being discussed at the same time this is being discussed. I also support legislation to advance new clean energy and clean coal technologies.

West Virginia is poised to lead a major part in the effort on clean technology because we know energy. We have lived with it for the last 150 years. We know coal. We know natural gas. We are coming to know CCS as few others do. It is a triumph when one of our power plants reduces 90 percent of the carbon emissions from the flue stream that it treats. That is a triumph to us--maybe to nobody else, but to us it is because it happened and it came from the stimulus package and we were a part of that.

The fact is, we in West Virginia know and embrace what too many others either don't understand or will not choose to see, which is that our Nation is dependent on coal for more than 50 percent of its electricity today, and nothing is going to change that fact. All the renewables in the world will not change that fact.

So I close. Even if the country achieves maximum success for all of the new ideas on the table for new green energy, our American quality of life and the rapid rise of energy needs around the globe will drive the same or greater need for coal for many generations to come. So we better do coal correctly. It is going to be coal that solves it.

Coal mining is hard. It is dangerous. Most people have never been down a mine. A few people who have discussed this don't know what they talk about when they talk about it. And it is not the fault of a coal miner. He just mines or she mines the coal that is out there. That has to be handled at the stationary source.

I don't want EPA making all those rules. I don't want EPA turning out the lights on America. As I said, coal can be cleaner. But the responsibility for putting in place laws and policies that spur new technologies and new ideas and the responsibility for any major energy and environmental policy change lies not with the Federal regulatory agency acting in isolation--I don't even know where EPA is located--but with the Congress, with the people who are elected--us--to be included in a process which has not been well managed to do the right thing.

I proudly support the Murkowski resolution, and I yield the floor.

Mr. President, for the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation I report favorably the following nomination lists which were printed in the Records on the dates indicated, and ask unanimous consent, to save the expense of reprinting on the Executive Calendar that these nominations lie at the Secretary's desk for the information of Senators.

Mr. President, it is time to take mining companies' safety records out of the darkness and bring some much-needed transparency and accountability to the industry.

Today, I am introducing legislation that would require any publicly- traded mining company to include critical mine safety information in its annual and quarterly filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC.

Shareholders have a direct interest in the safety record of any company they invest in--because safety has as much of an impact on a company's long-term financial health as its mining production.

But today, this safety information is not uniformly reported across the industry. My bill fixes this inconsistency and gives investors the information they need to hold corporate management responsible for the safety record of a company.

That is what my bill is all about: providing shareholders with standard information that can be used to measure and compare safety records across the industry. Specifically, my legislation would require any publicly-traded mine company to report the following information in their annual and quarterly filings with the SEC:

The total number of significant and substantial violations of mandatory health or safety standards;

The total number of failure to abate orders issued under section 104(b) of the Mine Act;

The total number of citations and orders for unwarrantable failure of the

mine operator to comply with mandatory health or safety standards under section 104(d) of the Mine Act;

The total number of flagrant violations under section 110 of the Mine Act;

The total number of imminent danger orders issued under section 107(a) of the Mine Act;

The total dollar value of Mine Safety and Health Administration, MSHA, proposed penalties and fines;

A list of the regulated worksites that have been notified by MSHA of a Pattern of Violation or a Potential to have a Pattern of Violations under section 104(e) of the Mine Act;

Any pending legal action before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission.

Any mining related fatalities.

In addition, any publicly-traded mining company must immediately disclose to the SEC if it receives a shutdown order under section 107(a) of the Mine Act, imminent danger, or receives notice that a mine site has a potential or actual pattern of violations.

I have always said that, first and foremost, this is about a company doing the right thing to develop a true culture of safety. That includes everyone, from the miner at the coal face to the Chairman of the Board.

If we are serious about making that culture a reality, shareholders need to be informed about safety too.

Mr. President, it is time to take mining companies' safety records out of the darkness and bring some much-needed transparency and accountability to the industry.

Today, I am introducing legislation that would require any publicly- traded mining company to include critical mine safety information in its annual and quarterly filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC.

Shareholders have a direct interest in the safety record of any company they invest in--because safety has as much of an impact on a company's long-term financial health as its mining production.

But today, this safety information is not uniformly reported across the industry. My bill fixes this inconsistency and gives investors the information they need to hold corporate management responsible for the safety record of a company.

That is what my bill is all about: providing shareholders with standard information that can be used to measure and compare safety records across the industry. Specifically, my legislation would require any publicly-traded mine company to report the following information in their annual and quarterly filings with the SEC:

The total number of significant and substantial violations of mandatory health or safety standards;

The total number of failure to abate orders issued under section 104(b) of the Mine Act;

The total number of citations and orders for unwarrantable failure of the

mine operator to comply with mandatory health or safety standards under section 104(d) of the Mine Act;

The total number of flagrant violations under section 110 of the Mine Act;

The total number of imminent danger orders issued under section 107(a) of the Mine Act;

The total dollar value of Mine Safety and Health Administration, MSHA, proposed penalties and fines;

A list of the regulated worksites that have been notified by MSHA of a Pattern of Violation or a Potential to have a Pattern of Violations under section 104(e) of the Mine Act;

Any pending legal action before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission.

Any mining related fatalities.

In addition, any publicly-traded mining company must immediately disclose to the SEC if it receives a shutdown order under section 107(a) of the Mine Act, imminent danger, or receives notice that a mine site has a potential or actual pattern of violations.

I have always said that, first and foremost, this is about a company doing the right thing to develop a true culture of safety. That includes everyone, from the miner at the coal face to the Chairman of the Board.

If we are serious about making that culture a reality, shareholders need to be informed about safety too.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I call up Senator Hutchison's and my amendment No. 3758 and ask for its immediate consideration.

I ask unanimous consent to modify this amendment with the modification at the desk.

Mr. President, at its very core, this amendment is about protecting consumers. It is about making sure the Federal Trade Commission has the authority to act in coordination with the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is created in the underlying bill.

This amendment would equip the FTC to cover dangerous gaps in consumer protection and to go after dishonest, fly-by-night operators targeting our society's weakest members. In the Commerce Committee, we discovered those folks are frequent and everywhere.

For nearly 100 years, the FTC has been protecting consumers in the gray areas where other regulatory bodies have failed to act. This amendment will make sure the situation of the FTC and its ability to act does not change. Since 1914, the Federal Trade Commission has served the American public as our preeminent consumer watchdog. The Commission's core consumer protection mission is to enforce and regulate against ``unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting interstate commerce.'' This broad prohibition is at the heart of the FTC's underlying authority under its authorizing statute, the Federal Trade Commission Act.

This bipartisan amendment is very simple. It is a savings clause. That is really all it is. It fully preserves the FTC's enforcement and regulatory authority under the FTC Act as it is today. The underlying bill creates a new consumer protection bureau within the Federal Reserve, and I fully support that effort. But creating that new bureau should not come at the expense of the FTC's mission, which is consumer protection, which is not, incidentally, a zero sum game.

I emphasize that this amendment is hardly a novel concept. Throughout the FTC's long, distinguished history, Congress has created new regulatory agencies that have overlapped with the FTC's core authority and jurisdiction. The list runs from the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Food and Drug Administration to the Environmental Protection Agency and the Consumer Product Safety Commission. But in order to maximize consumer protection, Congress has always preserved the FTC's authority under the FTC Act, and this latest effort should be no different. Yet the underlying bill currently strips the FTC of its authority and places it within the new bureau, undermining its consumer protection mission and creating, in this Senator's judgment, dangerous holes in our regulatory safety net. That is because the definition and boundaries of the term ``financial products and services''--the ruling definition--are entirely vast and entirely vague. Anyone can avoid enforcement simply by claiming they are beyond the FTC's or the new bureau's jurisdiction. Fraudsters and scam artists could and most certainly would tie the courts up in knots. Concurrent authority would solve this problem.

What is more, there is too much financial fraud out there to take a valuable cop off the beat. The FTC has particular expertise in cracking down on bad actors who fleece ordinary Americans of their hard-earned money.

I think it is clear that these small-time crooks would not be at the top of the new bureau's priority list. They will have many things to do. It is just common sense to preserve the FTC's existing authority against these people.

Simply put, the new consumer protection bureau cannot do everything. Neither can the FTC. There will be plenty of work to go around for both agencies.

I wish to be absolutely clear about something. This amendment would not subject businesses to dual regulations. As I said earlier, the FTC has always coexisted with newly created agencies, and they have avoided tripping over one another with conflicting regulations or enforcement actions. To make absolutely certain this does not happen, the amendment, as modified, directs the FTC and the new bureau to enter into a memorandum of understanding and coordinate their regulatory efforts. That is sensible. The bottom line is that businesses will not be subject to multiple layers of regulation or rules.

I close by thanking particularly Senator Hutchison, Senator Dorgan, and Senator Pryor for their steadfast support and effort, and, of course, Chairman Dodd, who has worked long and hard, it seems to me, for months on end, never moving from that seat. He has been crucial in working with me on this issue and with Senator Hutchison.

So many of the enormous economic problems we face today are a direct result of weak consumer protections in the financial sector. It is the hard-working families in places such as West Virginia and many other places all across the country who are hurt the most. They are struggling just to scrape by, to pay their bills, and to put food on the table. It is so hard to know, frankly, whom to trust. They need to know somebody is by their side looking out for them. The Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010 will be that safeguard. It is a profound achievement that will make a real and lasting difference in the lives of hard-working Americans for generations to come. Our amendment is a small but essential part of that work to make sure consumers are protected.

I yield the floor.

I am aware of both Senators' concerns and I will work with each of you related to LNG facilities during conference with the House on the Coast Guard Reauthorization bill.

Mr. President, as a lifelong Atlanta Braves fan, I am always delighted when my team comes to town. They visit Washington next month, and as always, the Braves' incredible manager, my dear friend Bobby Cox, will be at the helm. But this year, the joy is bittersweet. After 50 years in baseball, Bobby Cox will retire at the end of this season.

I am an enormous and longtime fan of Bobby Cox, for so many reasons. He is so good and easy with people, and he takes them for who they are. And in the case of baseball players, he takes them for what they have, and allows them to achieve incredible things with it: I have never heard a manager encouraging his hitters at the plate between every single pitch as Bobby does with such tremendous enthusiasm.

He is one of only a handful to spend at least 20 straight seasons managing the same team. And I always knew, without a doubt, that Bobby always had the team ready to play its best. His record makes that much abundantly clear--he guided Atlanta to 14 consecutive postseason appearances and of course, to a World Series title in 1995.

Unlike so many other heroes in baseball, Bobby is very approachable, so good at putting people at ease. I remember visiting with him, and in minutes we were discussing ``Dirt'' Lemke who he really admired and respected as a second baseman because he was so scrappy.

That is why Bobby is an icon. He brings out the best in his players and exemplifies what the sport of baseball is supposed to be about-- hustle, grit, loyalty and determination. It is why he is one of the winningest managers in Major League history, and it is why the Braves are what they are today.

So I say to Bobby: I'll still be a Braves fan after you retire, but it just won't be the same without number six in the dugout.

It is no wonder players love to play for Bobby. It is no wonder his fans feel like they are part of the team. I am honored to call Bobby my friend and, I am grateful that he has led me to continue cherishing-- and needing--baseball the way I do.

Bobby, congratulations on your well-deserved retirement. It is your kind of integrity and stature that brings the game great pride.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, as the Presiding Officer would well understand from his own experience, West Virginia is mourning the loss of 29 brave miners who died last week--most of whom never knew what hit them--when a devastating explosion tore

through the Upper Big Branch Mine in Montcoal, WV. It has brought the whole State to a dead halt. Even though it may never be possible to fully grasp the magnitude of this tragedy or to ease the pain of this devastating loss, we in West Virginia believe strongly in the power of prayer and in the grace of God. That has been important this week and will be in the weeks to come. We hold onto it--that feeling--and we offer it to one another and to the families, friends, and fellow miners who are grieving.

We revere our miners--the men and women who put their lives on the line every single day to provide for their families and bring light and heat to millions. They live in obscurity. They work underground. Nobody knows much about it around the rest of the country, but it is heroic living, and they make this country work.

We offer a heartfelt thanks to the rescue workers who risked their own lives. Our rescue teams, and the entire West Virginia community, never gave up hope and continued to forge ahead in their mission. They know and understand when they volunteer for this dangerous work that at some point in time they will be called upon to put their own lives on the line in the mine. That is what a rescue worker is all about-- pushing the edges. How much methane is there, how far can you get in, how much dust is there, what can you see, does he or she have enough oxygen? They did so selflessly and fearlessly, and they have, as you can imagine, my deepest respect.

Even in one of our darkest hours, America has seen the very best of West Virginia--binding together, drawing solace from each other with tears and with mutual love. This is who we are. This is Appalachia. It is the sense of oneness, always against so many odds. The odds are always stacked against us. Maybe that is why I am so proud to represent them--always fighting uphill, others not knowing much about you, not necessarily paying a lot of attention to you but strong, good people. So it is this sense of oneness that sets us apart, in my mind, and why I am so proud to be a West Virginian.

We are all too familiar with this agony. I know the Presiding Officer is. We have been here before--with Sago, with Aracoma. When our worst fears are realized, as they were in this terrible tragedy, we know we must find a way through the searing pain and the loss because that is the way it is in our Appalachia--central Appalachia.

Everybody understands that mining has always been risky, but it can be made safer by people who want to make it safer. That will often start with the person who is in charge of the company. Safety is about a company doing the right thing. Safety is also about the State and Federal Government stepping in and toughening up our laws where that needs to be done. It is about providing the resources and the people to enforce those laws.

Let me give an example. Currently, the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission has 14 administrative law judges. If this year's budget request is enacted, they will have 18. They will go from 14 to 18. Those 18--and right now those 14--administrative law judges, together, face a backlog of more than 16,000 cases, containing 82,000 violations. That is incomprehensible to me. It is ridiculous, but it is true and it is unacceptable.

In the aftermath of Sago, I was proud to coauthor the MINER Act, along with Senator Byrd, Senator Kennedy, and Senator Mike Enzi from Wyoming. This was, in fact, the only significant Federal mine legislation since 1977, which meant that we had gone 30 years without passing significant mine safety legislation. That doesn't tell the whole story, but it certainly tells some part of the story.

The bill was not perfect, but it did tackle the core problems we faced at Sago, which was a different kind of mine. It was a very rural mine, a much smaller mine than this huge mine in Raleigh County, WV. Because of this bill, we now require that mines have flame-resistant lifelines to guide miners out in an emergency. If you have an explosion. There is dust everywhere. You cannot see anything. So you put in sort of like a handrail, and you hold on to it and you just follow that because you cannot see where you are going. That will lead you to the mine mouth or perhaps to an elevator, if it is still working, that will allow you to get out.

We require refuge chambers that are now located in mines to protect miners if they cannot evacuate. Those are safe havens that have oxygen and food. There are stores of breathing devices along the escape routes--part of the law now.

We have new flammability requirements for new belt equipment. I know that is mining jargon, but I lay it before the Senate. Yet despite these important improvements, we mourn now another disaster of a very different kind. More lives were lost. We ask: How can this be? Again?

Everything we know at this time tells us this accident did not have to happen. This explosion could have and should have been prevented. If you are asked by a coal miner: Does an explosion have to happen? The answer is, no; it is preventable. Yes, that is easy to say and hard to do. But in the real world of serious work in mine safety, it is preventable. Miners do not have to lose their lives.

So our responsibility now is to learn from this new and terrible incident. We have to look at it carefully. We cannot rush to judgment. I am going to explain a couple of things that are being done. We do not know exactly what went wrong at Upper Big Branch mine but I promise you we will demand answers, and we will get answers.

MSHA, which is the Mine Health and Safety Administration, will conduct a complete investigation into this tragedy, and that will tell us a lot. The agency's quick response and leadership after this explosion has been, in my judgment, highly commendable.

Right now, what we do know is we need to enforce aggressively the provisions of the MINER Act that we passed several years ago in 2006 at all mines. Where they are needed, we must put new laws in place, understanding that mine operations are different. Some mines try to do the right thing, others try less hard. It is a hard job.

I am concerned that the enforcement process today moves much too slowly, and that hurts the good operators as well as helping the bad ones, even when the circumstances demand the most urgent response.

Today, mine safety operators can stop operations in a mine or part of a mine whenever they see imminently dangerous violations. That is in the eye of the beholder, of the inspector, which means they have to be good people and well trained.

Once the operator has addressed that problem, then there is no longer a violation and mining can continue. But these inspectors also look for a very interesting phenomena called ``patterns of violations.'' For that they have to look back over the last several years in a particular mine or a particular part of a mine to find out if there has been a pattern of violation, which, in and of itself, might not rise to the level of imminent danger, but could indicate that the mine needs to improve its safety.

If they find a pattern, these Federal inspectors, they should be able to impose higher fines. If it is not corrected, they should be able to, as they are now, shut down a mine or just part of a mine where there is a particular problem. This mine where the explosion occurred was huge. It had numerous double-digit entrances into different parts of the mine. It was huge.

But, anyway, closing down a mine or part of a mine does not always work that way because companies have found a loophole in this part of the law, the part dealing with so-called ``patterns of violations.'' They just keep contesting and appealing. They appeal and they appeal right on up to Federal court. They appeal the decisions to prevent the finding of a pattern. That is why they do it. If you do not want something to happen, if you do not want to pay a fine, you have been cited for a violation, you have been cited for a fine. But if you appeal it, if you appeal it long and keep appealing, then, if you get a judgment against you, you go to the next court higher up, you do not have to either pay a fine or change the way you operate.

The number of appeals has increased dramatically from just 6 percent of total violations in 2005 to 27 percent last year. With such a tremendous backlog of cases and limited manpower, the average appeal took 587 days to finalize last year, which is bad for everybody. Some operators have

taken advantage of this loophole, preventing government action and imposing a serious risk to the miners' safety.

West Virginians can rest assured that I plan to press this issue aggressively. We are already taking steps to get to the bottom of this. I am glad that President Obama has been involved, and he has called a lot of folks, including miners' families. He has requested a full report to him on what Federal investigators have learned about the disaster, and it is going to happen this week.

Now, maybe that is too early. They may not know everything yet. But he wants to be kept abreast of what is happening. I have asked, and others, for a full briefing on the findings for West Virginia's Congressional Delegation. I decided that was not selfish; I decided that was the right thing to do. I want to know what the President knows, and that is going to happen.

I have requested that MSHA conduct a top-to-bottom review of all mine safety violations all across the country so that we can get a sense of perspective of where we are in this mine and others in other States. And I have also requested hearings and oversight investigations from the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. They were kind enough to allow me to sit with them during the hearings regarding the MINER Act so that I could contribute what I know.

In closing, I wish to say our coal miners have lost too many brothers and too many sisters. Coal mining has always been dangerous, and it is a common story in West Virginia--southern West Virginia particularly-- which is where I first went, where there is so much coal mining that mothers do not want their sons to go into coal mining. But there they are living up a hollow, up a creek. No other work is available, and they can get paid $60 to $70,000 for doing this job after some training.

What are they meant to do? What if it is a mine which does not have any kind of representation which allows people to tell somebody in authority that something is not being done safely?

Well, we have mines where the operators use intimidation. If somebody tries to do something like that, they are out of a job. There are all kinds of ways to do that. And while we all know their journey is a dangerous one, our coal miners must know that everything is being done to keep them safe. That is why I am standing here, simply to say that.

We have a solemn, urgent and, I think, sacred obligation in Congress to find the truth, do it fairly and carefully, and take action in their honor. These men have given us all they can, and we must honor this sacrifice.

I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now be in recess until 2:15 p.m. this afternoon.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 13, 2010, at 2:15 p.m.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be authorized to meet, during the session of the Senate, to conduct a hearing entitled ``ESEA Reauthorization: School Turnaround'' on April 13, 2010. The hearing will commence at 2 p.m. in room 430 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 13, 2010, at 9:30 a.m., to conduct a hearing entitled, ``Wall Street and the Financial Crisis: The Role of High Risk Home Loans.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 13, 2010, at 2:30 p.m.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Airland of the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 13, 2010, at 9:30 a.m.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs' Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 13, 2010, at 2:30 p.m. to conduct a hearing entitled, ``Removing the Shroud of Secrecy: Making Government More Transparent and Accountable Part II.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Impeachment Trial Committee on the Articles against Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr. be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 13, 2010, at 4 p.m.

Mr. President, I have always wondered if this day would come, when I could stand on the Senate floor before my colleagues and say those words:

We did it. We passed comprehensive health care reform.

Many have come before us and we have worked together for years. We took on a monumental task and faced obstacles at every corner.

It wasn't easy--nothing that is worth doing is easy. But we put aside our own differences and came together to pass meaningful legislation that will transform the way health care works in our country.

And it was worth every minute and every hurdle. It was worth every setback and every step forward.

Because for all those challenges, for all our debates and negotiations, I know that any trouble we faced was nothing in comparison to the daily struggle millions of Americans face everyday without health insurance. Millions that are without coverage who live everyday in terror of becoming sick--parents powerless to provide care for a sick child, workers unable to change jobs and pursue a new opportunity, families forced to choose between seeing a doctor and paying their mortgage.

When I think about the cause of reform, I think about those people and their stories.

And I want to tell you about some of them today.

I want to tell you about the Bord family of West Virginia.

The Bords are two dedicated school teachers--with health insurance, through their employer--whose son Samuel had Leukemia and needed treatment well beyond the onerous annual insurance limits, they didn't even know they had. Samuel's parents were desperate and feared for the worst. When he hit his million dollar cap, my office helped his parents find more resources.

But, the Bords were left with two heart-wrenching suggestions-- consider getting a divorce so that Samuel would qualify for Medicaid and stop taking their other children--Samuel's twin brothers--to the doctor altogether, even if they got sick, in order to save every penny for Samuel.

That's right. Get a divorce and choose one child's health care needs over another's.

Those are the choices our Nation offered to these caring, hard- working parents with a sick child?

They did everything in their power but, this fall, Samuel passed away.

It breaks my heart to think of what his parents went through: not only the pain of watching their son fight a terrible disease, but also the uncertainty of paying for his treatment when the coverage they counted--on and paid for--abandoned them.

And so now, we are creating a more secure and reliable health care system that works for every American: where those who are uninsured finally have someplace to go for care; where those with health insurance know that the coverage they count on--and pay for--will be there when they need it; and where a profit driven insurance industry cannot play mercilessly with people's lives or steal their hope for a healthy future.

This new law is for all those countless people we have lost to a broken system. This is Samuel's law. We will never be able to bring him back--but we can make sure no one's health is ever left to the whims of annual and lifetime caps or pre-existing conditions or arbitrary rate hikes.

In the course of my Senate Commerce Committee investigations into the health insurance industry, I met a wonderful woman named Susan Pearl.

You see, we knew in the committee that health insurance companies were not being straightforward about how much money they were spending on actual medical care. Too many people were not getting the care they needed, yet health insurance industry profits continued to soar.

So Susan came to us. Her husband owns his own business, and they had coverage--good coverage. And they were glad to have it--their son Ian was born with muscular dystrophy, but was doing well with medical treatment.

Unfortunately, Susan's insurance then decided that her son's care-- including the round-the-clock nursing necessary for advanced muscular dystrophy--was getting just too expensive for them to continue paying.

So with the full knowledge of the devastating and fatal effects of dropping coverage--Guardian Insurance abruptly rescinded, not just Ian Pearl's coverage, but the entire family policy, replacing it with another plan that was, quite simply, inadequate.

With Ian's life-saving care costing upwards of $1 million a year, Susan did everything she could to reinstate Ian on his original plan-- the one she had paid into faithfully for years.

Thankfully, Susan Pearl was able to recover Ian's old coverage--but only after Guardian's deplorable practices drew worldwide media attention.

This new law means health insurance companies can no longer gamble with people's lives and rescind coverage because it's hurting their bottom line.

You shouldn't need the full focus of a Senate investigation, just to be treated fairly by your insurance company.

I think of small business owners like Kate from my home State of West Virginia who shared her story on the White House Office on Health Reform's public website www.healthreform.gov. Her 2-year-old son is the only person with health insurance coverage in her household.

Many of us know that it is often hard for small businesses to find affordable coverage for themselves and their employees.

She and her husband are small business owners and they simply could not find an affordable policy. Today, small businesses pay up to 18 percent more than large firms for the same health insurance policy, so many just don't even offer it. While small businesses make up 82 percent of businesses in West Virginia, only 37 percent of them offered health insurance coverage to their employees in 2008.

Kate wished she even had the security of catastrophic coverage. She

knows she is risking her home and economic security without health coverage, but, basic health insurance is a luxury she and her husband simply can't afford.

When it comes to health care, small business owners have been facing higher administrative costs, lower bargaining power, greater price volatility and fewer pooling options. These are not minor details. They are major problems and health care reform includes concrete solutions to begin solving them.

Now, with this new law, West Virginia businesses will have access to far more affordable coverage options. In 6 months, as many as 20,000 small businesses in West Virginia like Kate's will have access to tax credits for up to 35 percent of the cost of health coverage for their employees.

And new State-based health insurance exchanges will be designed to help small businesses cover their employees in the small group market. By expanding the pool and spreading risk across every individual in the State exchanges, we can significantly decrease premiums for small businesses and lower administrative costs for small business coverage by as much as 30 percent.

Many people have heard about Sarah Wildman, a woman who purchased insurance on the individual market right here in Washington, DC.

Sarah was an informed consumer and specifically chose a policy she believed included good maternity coverage--one of the few policies on the individual market that cover maternity care at all.

Of course, her so-called ``Maternity'' coverage didn't cover labor, delivery, or even her stay in the hospital. And as a result, Sarah was left with a $22,000 bill.

And, because she gave birth by cesarean section--she now has a ``preexisting'' condition and can no longer get coverage elsewhere.

Sarah's situation would seem absurd, if it were not so deadly serious. And it begs the question: What is the value of health insurance that offers no coverage when it's needed?

But soon she won't have to worry. This new law will mean the elimination of preexisting condition exclusions--right away for our children and as soon as the exchanges are up and running for adults.

Both the House and the Senate have spent more than a year working on a meaningful plan to move our health system forward.

For many of us this journey started in earnest three years ago in our effort to reauthorize the Children's Health Insurance Program. Protecting that program--which will cover more than 14 million children by 2013--represents yet another of this new law's enormous achievements.

But today's achievement is built on more than 50 years of effort and incremental change--some quite meaningful, but none truly comprehensive.

At last, our work has brought fundamental changes to a broken health care system, and takes an enormous step to begin making people's lives better.

I was so proud to be there with the President when he signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law--after spending my entire career in public service committed to this cause, it was a chance to witness history in the making.

I want to thank my colleagues in the House and Senate who did the right thing for the American people. I know we are walking on the right side of history. I know many wanted to do even more, and go further. I know this bill is not perfect, but it will be transformative and that is a good thing.

I particularly want to thank two courageous colleagues on the House side--Congressmen Allan Mollohan and Nick Rahall who took a stand for the American people and voted to pass this legislation.

I want to thank Harry Reid for his leadership, and his unwavering vision which helped deliver a final bill to the President's desk.

And finally, I want to thank the President who came to the White House as a champion of change. And now, he has delivered.

We knew it would not be easy to change our health care system, but we persevered. All of us have stories like the ones I told.

I am enormously proud to have supported this legislation, which, more than anything, means a better health care system. It means a better America and a better life for families everywhere.

Mr. President, for the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation I report favorably the following nomination lists which were printed in the Records on the dates indicated, and ask unanimous consent, to save the expense of reprinting on the Executive Calendar that these nominations lie at the Secretary's desk for the information of Senators.